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Ford with Frank this A.M.


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Coach Ford was on with Frank for about 5-10 mins. Here's a brief synopsis --  

Ford on incoming recruits:

D.J. Foreman - "We don't have a player like him on the current roster, 6'9", led Rutgers in boards and blocks, and can put it on the floor also."

Adonys Henriquez - "A premier shooter, who could average 18-19 ppg in our system." 

Jalen Johnson - "A left-handed Tayshaun Prince. Could lead the team in scoring this season."

Frank then insinuated that Ford could not talk about another incoming recruit due to pending paperwork (Javon Bess). After Ford got off Frank mentioned him and dropped a Draymond Green comp. He framed it very loosely. 

In regards to recruiting locally, Coach Ford also mentioned that he will try and catch every STL Eagles game, and that we will always have at least one assistant at each game. "We're going to do everything in our power to keep the local kids home."

Aside from STL, we will recruit the A-10 footprint (northeast), and nationally. Mentioned FLA, OH, KY by name. 

Finally, Frank asked about a home-and-home with Mizzou: "Popular question, we've been in contact with them, and can hopefully be worked out in the near future."

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That is pretty high praise for Henriquez.  Four players have averaged 18 or more points for Ford.  They were Gary Forbes, Ricky Harris, James Anderson and Marcus Smart.   The Billikens haven't had a guy average 18 since Justin Love.

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I am most surprised by the commentary on Jalen Johnson. I guess we will know fairly quickly whether or not we can put much credence in what Ford says in interviews.

Of course Frank C. would compare a guy he likely has never seen with essentially no production to Draymond Green (I remember him comparing Rolandis Woodland to Jeremy Maclin). I like that he is a sunshine pumper for the local teams and programs, but that has left him with almost no credibility when it comes to him going beyond reporting information.

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21 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I am most surprised by the commentary on Jalen Johnson. I guess we will know fairly quickly whether or not we can put much credence in what Ford says in interviews.

Of course Frank C. would compare a guy he likely has never seen with essentially no production to Draymond Green (I remember him comparing Rolandis Woodland to Jeremy Maclin). I like that he is a sunshine pumper for the local teams and programs, but that has left him with almost no credibility when it comes to him going beyond reporting information.

Actually in fairness to Frank, the amazing Tom Izzo himself is the one who compared Bess to Green prior to last season...

"He has freakish intelligence. That’s what he has. He is a smaller version of Draymond Green, and he has the ability to get fouled as he did.”

And that's not all who Izzo compared Bess to...

“He is like a (Denzel) Valentine,” Izzo said. “I am not worried about whether he is in the gym. I am not worried about whether he is taking care of business in school. I am not worried about him socially. I think he has a great intelligence as a basketball player and I think he can defend people. He has a nose for the ball like a linebacker.”

I expect Bess to make the least impact of the three transfers, but he could be a very valuable "glue guy." The comments about Johnson did surprise me too, but could just be a case of Ford hyping his first HS recruit. Whether Tom Izzo or RM or whole host of coaches (Sodie hyping Horace Dixon :blink:) Ford wouldn't be the first coach to get a bit carried away. If Johnson turns out to be the leading scorer as a freshman, that would bode very well for the following season.

IMO, I think some of this is just Ford trying to build some enthusiasm.

 

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1 hour ago, ACE said:

Actually in fairness to Frank, the amazing Tom Izzo himself is the one who compared Bess to Green prior to last season...

"He has freakish intelligence. That’s what he has. He is a smaller version of Draymond Green, and he has the ability to get fouled as he did.”

And that's not all who Izzo compared Bess to...

“He is like a (Denzel) Valentine,” Izzo said. “I am not worried about whether he is in the gym. I am not worried about whether he is taking care of business in school. I am not worried about him socially. I think he has a great intelligence as a basketball player and I think he can defend people. He has a nose for the ball like a linebacker.”

I expect Bess to make the least impact of the three transfers, but he could be a very valuable "glue guy." The comments about Johnson did surprise me too, but could just be a case of Ford hyping his first HS recruit. Whether Tom Izzo or RM or whole host of coaches (Sodie hyping Horace Dixon :blink:) Ford wouldn't be the first coach to get a bit carried away. If Johnson turns out to be the leading scorer as a freshman, that would bode very well for the following season.

IMO, I think some of this is just Ford trying to build some enthusiasm.

 

Interesting, thanks for the post. I am setting Ash as my expectation for Bess and like the fit with the other players Ford has added.

My comment concerning how much we can listen to Ford was mostly in jest since every coach I have followed has hyped his players, but I was excited to hear him speak so highly of Jalen.

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26 minutes ago, almaman said:

hey now, is it this new update to board software or old man brainfart, but who's Jalen Johnson? i put him in search and get only the last 2 post on this thread

On the technical side of things, the search feature may not work for a couple of days (the new forum software is currently reindexing all of the posts....which will take a while).

On the basketball side of things, http://www.slubillikens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&ATCLID=210934803

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My personal take is Ford is just trying to build up enthusiasm and sell excitement. If people would rather have 100% honest assessments of player potential he may not be the right guy for them. Hopefully everyone on here takes some of this with a grain of salt whereas the "average" fan on the street hears the interview, and gets excited enough to buy tickets to a game or two.

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25 minutes ago, Zink said:

Is there any reason that there wasn't a mention of Zeke Moore? Was he explicitly talking about the new guys?

TF mentioned Zeke in his rundown, but I forgot what he said besides he was part of the prior 3 week session with the team. 

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18 hours ago, kshoe said:

My personal take is Ford is just trying to build up enthusiasm and sell excitement. If people would rather have 100% honest assessments of player potential he may not be the right guy for them. Hopefully everyone on here takes some of this with a grain of salt whereas the "average" fan on the street hears the interview, and gets excited enough to buy tickets to a game or two.

 

I cringe a bit when I hear about players being compared to Draymond Green or that a freshman could lead the team in scoring.  That usually means we'll be hearing references to those statements on the board for years to come.

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7 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

I cringe a bit when I hear about players being compared to Draymond Green or that a freshman could lead the team in scoring.  That usually means we'll be hearing references to those statements on the board for years to come.

I don't know what you mean.  Everything goes exactly as coaches say.  John Manning is currently backing up Andrew Bogut as center for the Warriors...

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1 hour ago, Zink said:

Is there any reason that there wasn't a mention of Zeke Moore? Was he explicitly talking about the new guys?

Yea he mentioned ZM as well and I forgot to throw him a blurb. I think one of the phrases was, "he can put the ball in the basket from anywhere." 

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27 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

I cringe a bit when I hear about players being compared to Draymond Green or that a freshman could lead the team in scoring.  That usually means we'll be hearing references to those statements on the board for years to come.

Ricky Cranford was going to be a poor man's Larry Hughes, per Spoon. Remembered only by about 50 people that post on this board but never forgotten.

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4 hours ago, majerus mojo said:

Yea he mentioned ZM as well and I forgot to throw him a blurb. I think one of the phrases was, "he can put the ball in the basket from anywhere." 

Awesome, thanks for reporting

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